Cat and Mouse
by Hail-Knight
Summary: DISCONTINUED
1. Preface

**~Cat and Mouse: The Princess Chronicles~  
Preface**

For so many centuries, people have been telling stories of kings and queens, princes and princesses. These tales included bandits, or perhaps thieves who worked alone, people who wanted to steal the throne away from the king and or queen. What story do you like best? The one about the evil queen who hates her equally beautiful daughter? Or the one about the prince who is willing to fight to prove his undying love for a princess or common girl? How about the one about a trapped princess who just wants to know what it's like to be a normal girl? Or perhaps the one about the evil king who won't give up his throne? These are all the types of stories people have told.

Who is your favorite character? The king, the queen, the prince, the princess, or the bandit? And have you ever read a story with a realistic fairytale ending? If you have, then you don't know the definition of the word 'realistic.' Stories are not always meant to be realistic, that much is true, but where is realism when someone is searching for it? Love is so difficult and in reality is not like the Cinderella fairytale. Love at first sight (or dance) doesn't exist. A story that has romance, kings, queens, princes, and princesses in it is bound to be all around confusing. That's okay, though; love is meant to be confusing at times, difficult, and seems impossible during the considerably difficult times, but it's a bond that is worth fighting for.

This story isn't the simplest one in the world and there will be times when you are confused, but that's life; confusing. A lonely and trapped princess is about to figure out how difficult life outside of the castle walls. She'll find out how difficult love really is; how difficult surviving in a world such as hers is. She thinks that she is ready for anything, until someone she trusts turns out to be someone else entirely and she'll have no choice but to learn how live like a somewhat normal girl.


	2. Chapter 1: Attacks and Dreams

**~Cat and Mouse: The Princess Chronicles~  
Chapter One****  
Attacks and Dreams

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**Thank you xo-Ayame-ox and Lanny9000990009 for reviewing.

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Nenriki was a seventeen year old girl with pale skin, green eyes, thin figure, and brown hair. She was no ordinary girl, though; she was the daughter of a very powerful king and queen. Every man in the kingdom wanted her, but her parents saw no man that was fit for her. Even the prince in the neighboring kingdom wasn't fit for their beautiful daughter. At age seventeen, it was time for her parents to look for a husband for her. However, they believed no man was good enough for their daughter. So she was alone; though she had to admit that an arranged marriage to a stranger didn't sound appealing. Sometimes she wished she could leave the castle to explore life outside the prison like walls. How she wanted know what it was like to be a normal girl. She thought about this as she walked to her mother and father's chamber. The strapless sky blue dress she wore flowed effortlessly around her as she walked through the halls of the large castle.

"Hello, dear," her mother said as she walked into the room. The queen, who sat on a large chair similar to her throne, wore a multicolored dress. Her father, who sat in the chair next to his wife, said nothing as Nenriki walked up to her parents. Their expressions showed discontent and Nenriki knew that they had dark news. "Well, Hime Nenriki, you are seventeen - soon to be eighteen - and as much as we dislike the idea, it is time for you to be married. You will be married to Kou Shinjitsu, though he is not good enough." Nenriki gasped. For so long she had believed that her parents wouldn't allow her to marry someone they didn't believe fit for her.

"Kou Shinjitsu is on his way to the castle right now. In a few days, you will meet your fiancé," her father spoke in a serious voice, showing his anger about the whole ordeal. The princess looked at the floor, trying to gather her thoughts. She was aware that the travel from the neighboring kingdom to her father's kingdom was very dangerous. There was Sanzoku Oumono or Bandit King, who killed and stole the riches of royalty. His appearance wasn't known, but he was well known for his amazing fighting abilities. She knew that a part of her father was hoping that Sanzoku Oumono would attack the carriage that was taking Kou Shinjitsu to the kingdom. "When he first arrives, you will not get to meet him. However, you will get to meet him the next day." Nenriki said nothing about the whole thing. She was a princess and talking back to her parents wouldn't be at all ladylike.

"That would be it, Hime Nenriki. You can return to your room," her mother dismissed her. Nenriki walked through the halls of the castle, but she didn't walk towards her room. Instead, she walked towards the large garden that was just behind the castle. As she walked between the tall flowers on the paved path, she thought about the arranged marriage. A seventeen year old girl - royalty or not - does not wish to marry a stranger; a girl wants to fall in love and wants to be proposed to. She sat on one of the benches to the side of the pond. Kou Shinjitsu could have an awful personality or be incredibly self absorbed; he may never truly care for her. However, when she looked at her mother and father, she saw love. After their arranged marriage, they had fallen in love. So many things could go wrong and there were so many rules when it came to the preparations of the wedding. The couple was not allowed to hug or kiss; their first kiss would be the day of the wedding. Holding hands and the embrace of dancing was allowed, though. It was something she didn't look forward to. Not once had Nenriki ever met Kou Shinjitsu, but she had heard stories of his personality. A serious type of boy he was said to be and she didn't want that. She wanted a carefree type of person who was willing to make jokes and spend time with her.

Marriage was a big step in someone's life and the biggest decision one can make. Some have a choice and some do not; some choose to be married and some cannot make that decision. Everyone wants to have someone to love them and someone to love. It's only natural. To be with someone and to date that someone is an experience that Nenriki will never have; a memory that she'll miss. Something she'll never have; the perfect kiss. The first kiss at the wedding in front of so many people was not what she would call perfect. She would never be a normal teenager. Without her parents' knowledge, she would walk to the castle walls and watch the people of the kingdom go on with their lives. The guard she stood with on those days kept her secret and protected her from danger. Some things she saw were awful - death, murder, theft - but there were things that were described as pretty - love, teenagers in love, children laughing and playing, and so many things that had to do with family. She would give a lot to spend a day as a normal teenager; an hour would do. The guard would often listen as the young princess would speak out loud; speaking her mind. Would she ever fall in love with Kou Shinjitsu? Would she ever be truly happy? Those were questions she wanted the answer to.

"Hime Nenriki!" a guard - the same guard who accompanied her when she traveled to the castle walls - yelled out. His yell brought her back to Earth and she hastily stood up. Around her stood four bandits with evil looks on their faces and it didn't take much to know what they wanted; her. She could be held hostage while the bandits demand a large sum of money. It frightened her being surrounded by bandits, but it wouldn't be easy to take the princess of the Fire Kingdom. Several guards attacked the bandits and succeeded in killing them. Aniki - the guard who had yelled her name - grabbed her forearm and dragged her away from the bandits and fighting guards.

Bandits were attacking several areas of the castle, but the guards of each area could handle the attacks. It was obvious who was behind the attacks. None other than Sanzoku Oumono himself; he was targeting the riches of the king and queen of the Fire Kingdom. It was only a matter of time. Now, he never showed himself during these attacks. He attacked royalty when they were on the road; he was more experienced than the bandits that worked for him, that much was known. The only thing he could keep a secret was his true fighting style and his appearance. No one knew what he looked like; not even the bandits who worked for him. Nenriki was a possible target, but her appearance was unknown to all the bandits in the group of Sanzoku. However, finding a princess within the walls of the castle in which she lived wasn't difficult. After what seemed like forever, but was only two hours, the bandits finally retreated.

The attack made Nenriki think; did Kou Shinjitsu get attacked during his travel? If he did, is he still alive? She thought of this and many other things as she readied herself for bed. A few servants placed heating pads underneath the thin mattress that topped her bed. She wore a white lace-trim cotton nightgown and a tan silk robe to keep her covered until she was under the covers of her large bed. Living in a royal castle, Nenriki only slept on cotton mattress with silk sheets and cotton pillows. Remember the fairytale, _The Princess and the Pea_? Well, the story was of a prince looking for a princess to marry, but it had to be true princess. So he traveled across the world to find a real princess. However, no matter where he went, he could not find what he was looking for. Even if he found a princess, it was considerably difficult to discover whether or not they were real or not. He always found something about them that was not to be. Distraught with grief and disappointment, the prince returned home. For a while, the prince was saddened by the fact that he had not found his princess. But one night, there was a terrible storm of thunder and lightning, the rain pouring down in torrents. It was on that night that a knock came on the castle door and was the king who answered it. Standing in the pouring rain was a young woman of great beauty, but the storm had soaked her and made a mess out of her. Water dripped from her hair and clothes. She claimed to be a _real_ princess, but the king and queen were not convinced. The queen arranged the preparation of a bed for the princess to sleep on. However, the bed wasn't like any other in the castle. After all the bedding was off the bedstead, a pea was laid at the bottom. On top of it, twenty mattress were placed and on top of them twenty eider-down beds were placed. When the princess laid on the bed, she could not fall into a deep sleep; she tossed and turned all night. In the morning when she was asked how she had slept, she replied, "Very badly! I felt as though I slept on a pile rocks and when I woke up this morning, my back was bruised black and blue!" That was how it was discovered that she was indeed a real princess; nobody but a true princess was as sensitive as that - feeling the pea through twenty mattress and twenty eider-down beds. So now that they knew she was a real princess, she and the prince were wed.

The story had made Nenriki experiment. She had placed a pea underneath her bed, but she slept soundly and could not feel the pea. When she awoke in the morning, her back was fine and there was no bruising. Which made her think; did that mean that she wasn't a real princess? What made a _real_ princess so sensitive anyway? That was something Nenriki couldn't understand. As she lay down in her bed, she sighed. It was comfortable and warm because of the heating pads. She only wished that there was a _real_ way to tell the difference of a _real_ princess and an _unreal_ princess. Somehow, she believed that she wasn't a real princess; she didn't fit in the royal life; she didn't want the royal treatment. What she wanted was to be a normal teenager that gets to fall in love before marrying and if she was to get married, she wanted it to be her choice. As she started to drift off, life outside of the castle walls ran through her mind and continued to when she fell asleep.

Dreams sometimes portray wishes and Nenriki's dream portrayed the wish of being a normal teenager. She was outside an average sized house with a boy about her age; red hair and blue-green eyes. He was gorgeous and the guy of her dreams - since it _was_ a dream, that statement had truth to it. The way he put his arm around her waist was something she wanted in reality. It was as if she was actually there; she could _feel_ him. It was as if it wasn't a dream, but reality itself. He wrapped both his arms tightly around her waist and lowered his lips to her ear. "I love you," he whispered. A shiver ran down her spin as his breath hit her ear. Too real, it was too real. Love; it was something that she may never feel. The dream continued on like this. She remained in his arms and it was nice to be wanted and loved. Of course, all dreams come to an end eventually and Nenriki woke up in her nice comfortable bed. The sunlight shone through her bedroom window, lighting the whole room up.

Looking out her bedroom window, she saw a carriage pull up in front of the castle. It must be Kou Shinjitsu finally arriving. She would not get to meet him right away, but she would see him the following day. She saw a young man exit the carriage first. He had short neat black hair and looked as though he had an athletic build. Following him an older man exited the carriage next; he had similar black hair and build. Father and son, but no woman exited the carriage. Where was his mother? Of course, she would not ask. That would probably be a sensitive subject for both the king and prince. Sighing, she tore herself away from the window to put one of her royal gowns on. A yellow-green dress is what she chose to wear; this dress had a halter type top. It flowed perfectly as she walked through the halls of the castle. "Hime Nenriki," Aniki spoke in a tired tone. "Oumono and Kisaki want me to take you to the room in which you'll be having breakfast today." Nenriki followed the guard without saying a single word. As she sat down at the table, servants placed her food on the table and she sighed. Today would be just another boring day.


End file.
